


Snow Angel

by slugworthingtonjr



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But a wholesome little shit, But not older than Levi, But who knows if the mood strikes me I may add a smutty second chapter eventually, Chance Meetings, Eren Is a Little Shit, M/M, No Smut, Older Eren Yeager, One Shot, Snow, Swearing, Walks In The Park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 17:19:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15199673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slugworthingtonjr/pseuds/slugworthingtonjr
Summary: Levi can't sleep, he has insomnia, so he decides to take a walk through the park and enjoy the quiet snowfall. His walk is interrupted, however, when he finds he's not the only one roaming the park at night alone.





	Snow Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends. I feel a bit guilty for writing this because I really should be working on the next chapter of my ErenXLevi chapter fic, buuuut I'm at an emotionally taxing part of that story and my brain peaced-out into this little fic for a break. Also it's hot as hell where I live right now and so I ended up fantasizing about a cold, snowy night.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

It was so quiet out. Snow had a way of doing that, hushing the world.

The air was crisp, almost too cold. Levi tightened the scarf around his neck, then pulled a cigarette and lighter from his pocket, the crunch of his boots on the ground stopping to make way for the metallic clink and strike of the Zippo. He returned it to his pocket and took a long drag, appreciating the amplified definition of the smoke as he breathed it out into the night sky. 

Just one. 

That's why he'd left the rest of the pack at home after-all. It was a disgusting habit, but one that he'd picked up years ago, when he was filled with a youthful disregard for his own well-being, and that was putting it lightly. He liked to think he didn't have much in common with that old self anymore, but who was he kidding. 

He buried his free hand in the pocket of his peacoat and continued his walk, the crunching of his boots picking up where they left off. 

Sure it was infuriating sometimes when he couldn't sleep, couldn't shut his brain off, but there were times like this when the solitude of night was so peaceful, the thick flakes coating the trees of the park so beautiful, that he was glad he wasn't sleeping through it. 

He took another drag, rounded a bend through some trees and stopped dead in his tracks. 

There on the ground just to the side of the path was a young man. He was sprawled on his back, eyes closed, unmoving. 

It wasn't unusual to come across homeless people in the park sometimes, but this kid didn't strike him as homeless. Why was he here? Was he okay?

Levi took a cautious step forward and kicked the bottom of the young man's shoe, whose eyes shot open, and the vivid green of them literally took Levi's breath away. 

He cleared his throat, took another puff from the cigarette, said, “Oh good, you're not dead.” and continued on his way down the path.

The kid stood up then and Levi could feel his eyes on his back.

“You know smoking's bad for you.” He called to Levi matter-of-fact.

Levi stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I'm aware of that.”

He was about to start walking again, but - “So why don't you quit?”

Who the hell was this kid?

Levi turned around and walked right into the kid's space, who turned out to be taller than him, but that wasn't surprising, most people were taller than Levi. 

“You know what else is bad for you?” He hissed. “Butting into other people's business.”

The kid flinched a little, but otherwise stood his ground, and Levi had to admit that he might be a little impressed. Despite Levi's short stature, his death glare was not to be taken lightly. 

He wasn't sure why, but instead of just walking away, he stayed there and added, “Why were lying around in the snow anyway?”

“Look who's butting into someone else's business now?” The kid raised his eyebrows and Levi noticed the messy brown hair that poked out from under his beanie.

“You're a cheeky little shit aren't you?” He took another drag and in spite of the temptation, he didn't blow the smoke in the kid's face, but to the side. 

Then the kid gave a crooked smile and looked at the flattened snow next to them. “I was making a snow angel.”

Levi followed his gaze to see the imprint of white wings. “So you were.” He took the last puff from his cancer stick, then flicked it into the snow. 

“Aaaand now you're littering.” The young man motioned to where the butt had landed. 

“What are you the morality police?” 

“You know there's literally a trash can ten feet away.” He pointed to a bin somewhere behind Levi.

Levi blinked at the kid in astonishment, who continued pointing with one eyebrow raised as if waiting for something.

“Jesus christ...”Levi muttered. He stepped to the cigarette butt, retrieved it from the snow and made a dramatic show of throwing it in the trash can. “Happy now, brat?”

“It's Eren.” He smiled at the scowl on Levi's face. “You know you really should try to quit. It'd be a shame for someone as attractive as you to die young.”

“Oh, now you're being a sarcastic little shit. Very fucking funny.”

“No, no, I'm not.” Eren rushed. “You are really attractive...” He mumbled and trailed off. 

Levi caught the flush of the kid's, Eren's, cheeks under the dim glow of the lamps lining the park pathway. 

Was the brat hitting on him now? 

He turned and started to walk away to hide the heat he could feel creeping into his own face. He had no idea how to respond to that. Eren, however, just started walking next to him, silent for a moment before asking, “So what are doing out here in the middle of the night, shouldn't you be at home sleeping like a normal person?”

He should have told the kid to fuck off, mind his own business, but it was strangely comfortable walking with him, two pairs of feet now crunching through the snow, two sets of lungs exhaling vaporous breaths.

“I could ask you the same question.” He glanced to Eren, eyes lingering on the flakes that caught on his long lashes. 

“I just got off work, walking home.” Eren looked up at the fluttering sky, then over to Levi. “I work graves as a janitor at the library.”

Levi's lips quirked and his eyes lit up a bit. “Janitor huh?”

Eren took the expression as a form of ridicule. “Yeah, I can tell from your expensive coat and boots that you don't think it's a real job.”

“Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous to assume so much about a man you just met?”

Eren seemed to consider that as their walk advanced. 

“I happen to find cleaning very important.” Levi continued. “So I think your job is very much a 'real job', as you put it. And cleaning the library, well, that actually sounds kind of nice.”

At first Eren wasn't sure if the man was joking or not, but after catching the somewhat dreamy look on his face he knew he was being serious. Just what kind of man had he stumbled into in the night, or rather, had stumbled into him. 

“You haven't told me your name.” Eren shivered and buried his hands deeper in his pockets. 

“You haven't asked.”

Eren snorted through his nose, emitting a puff of steam, and rolled his eyes. “Okay, what's your name?”

“It's Levi.”

They rounded a bend, walking next to a frozen pond now, all the geese somewhere far away where it was warm.

“So Levi, you still haven't told me why you're out here.”

“I'm not obligated to tell you anything.”

“Well, I thought we were doing the whole 'you show me yours I'll show you mine' thing.” Eren cringed a little and blushed realizing how that came out. “Not like that, I mean, you know what mean...”

Levi's steps paused for a moment as he looked to Eren with a smirk, then his feet continued on, hands tucked in his pockets. They walked in silence for a few seconds, then Levi spoke, voice cushioned by the falling snow. 

“Couldn't sleep.” He sighed and shook a rogue strand of black hair out of his eye. 

Eren looked over at him, and for the first time noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He didn't find the man any less attractive however, in fact, somehow he became all the more alluring.

“So how come you came here, out in the cold?”

Levi hummed in thought, then tilted his head back to look at the sky, the lamplight illuminating the metallic quality of his eyes, and Eren thought that in some way they looked icier than their surroundings. His profile was sharp against the sky, raven hair contrasting with the whiteness of the air. Eren caught himself staring and forced himself to look away. 

“It's quiet.” Levi finally answered. “Especially when it snows like this. And the trail is nice. Though...I'd have to caution you that I thought I found a dead kid lying on the ground back that way, turns out he was just waiting there to criticize me for my bad habits, so who knows, maybe it's going to shit.” He shrugged.

“Sorry about that.” Eren gave a sheepish laugh. “Sometimes I just get a little...enthusiastic about things.”

Levi gave him a sideways glance and cracked a small smile of his own. “Interesting word choice, 'enthusiastic'.”

Eren laughed again.

 

They continued on their path through the snow for a long while, a comfortable silence taking over, until they found that they were back where they'd started, Eren's snow angel slowly disappearing under new blankets of white. 

Their feet stilled. 

A small gust of wind whipped up out of nowhere biting at them, then vanished just as quickly, bringing with it thicker and more abundant flakes.

Their eyes met, then blinked away. 

“Do you...” Eren started, stopped, bit at his lip, then forced himself to finish what he was saying, heart hammering in his chest. “Would you want to walk home with me? Maybe come up for a hot drink?”

Levi's eyes widened a little in surprise at the offer. He hadn't been expecting that, but he also hadn't been expecting to run into a nosy snow angel in the night in the first place. 

“Uh...” He already had his go-to declination written all over his face. 

Levi had few friends, and he barely made time for them, but when he looked back up to Eren's emerald eyes something inside of him changed all of his words around, and what came out was completely uncharacteristic of him. 

“Would we be sneaking past your parents' bedroom?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Eren snorted a laugh, a look of relief dusting his face. “No, I have my own place.”

“Which means...” Levi narrowed his eyes, still full of apprehension. 

Eren gave him a knowing look. “I'm twenty-two if that's what you're getting at.”

“Okay.” Levi folded his arms. “Now, how do I know you're not a murderous psychopath?”

Eren belly laughed at that. 

“If either of us is a murderous psychopath it's definitely going to be you.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, you almost murdered me with your glare alone earlier, and I think you even threw in a veiled threat. Plus the mysterious and handsome ones are always the villains.”

“Nope.” Levi shook his head. “You've got it all wrong. Everyone knows that it's the charming ones with the pretty smiles who end up surprising everyone in the end. 'Oh he was such an upstanding citizen, never smoked or even littered once, we're just in tears that he ended up with a basement full of bodies!'” He feigned shock, putting a hand to his chest. 

Eren giggled, looked at his feet, then back up to Levi. “Okay, I won't murder you if you don't murder me. Deal?”

Levi's lips quirked into a half smile. “Deal.”

Eren stood there grinning stupidly for a few seconds, feeling happier than he had in a while, and for some reason feeling accomplished that he'd brought a smile to this man's face, even if it was a half smile. 

“Well, lead the way.” Levi nodded. “I don't know where your creepy basement is.”

“This way.” Eren turned and started walking towards the edge of the park. 

Levi fell into step next to him, suddenly oblivious to the cold of the world around him, enchanted only by the beauty. 

“Is hot chocolate okay?” Eren asked. “I think it's all I have right now.”

“I'm usually partial to tea.” Their feet hit the sidewalk, crossed a road to another sidewalk. “I guess I can make an exception for tonight, but only if you have those tiny marshmallows.”

Eren's step faltered a little. “Uh...”

“I'm kidding.” Levi looked to him.

Eren's worry dissolved and they moved further down the street.

“But if you expect me to have hot chocolate with you a second time, you better have the tiny marshmallows.”

Eren laughed. 

“That's not a joke.”

Their voices and silhouettes faded into the curtain of snowfall, footprints quickly disappearing as if they were but ghosts moving together in the reverie of night.

**Author's Note:**

> I rely pretty heavily on music to set the mood while I write and I like to share it with my readers, so here are a couple songs I was listening to while writing this little story:
> 
> Dustin O'Halloran - We Move Lightly  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BYe-UfzgPk
> 
> The Album Leaf - Window  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uZpl8ii2d0


End file.
